]]>
Chocolate cupcakes filled and topped with luscious Irish cream made with whipping cream, marshmallows, milk and Irish cream flavoring. These Irish Cream Pie Cupcakes are the ultimate St. Patrick’s Day Cupcake!

There is something about chocolate cupcakes filled with luscious cream that makes my heart sing. You know what else makes my heart sing? This quote I read in a Devotion book I bought over the weekend –

“If you were the best in the world at what you do, how would you behave?” -Alexandra Franzen

Irish Cream Pie traditionally has a chocolate crust, filled with a mixture of marshmallows, milk, whipping cream and Irish cream liqueur. These Irish Cream Pie Cupcakes are a spin on that pie. They start with a delicious, moist Devils Food Cake Mix that I doctored up by adding extra ingredients. Then they are filled and topped with Irish Cream. There are a few steps to making the cream, it does take a little time, but it’s not difficult at all.

While the cupcakes are cooling, then it’s time to make the Irish Cream. First, melt marshmallows and milk on the stove top, this will take about 3 or 4 minutes.

Then transfer the marshmallow mixture to a bowl, and place in the refrigerator.

Stir the mixture every 5-10 minutes for a total of 20-30 minutes, returning it to the fridge after each stir. The time will depend on how cold your fridge is and how hot the mixture was to begin with. You will need the mixture to mound up.

When you put the marshmallow mixture back into the fridge for the last time before it’s done, begin beating the whipping cream. You will want it stiff, but be careful, it can turn mushy if you beat it too long.

After the marshmallow mixture is mounded, the whipping cream is beaten, then gently fold them together with the Irish Cream. I used International Delight Irish Cream Creamer to keep the cupcakes kid friendly and budget friendly, but you can also use Irish cream liqueur.

]]>
There’s a wee bit of Irish in all of us on St. Patrick’s Day! Treat the kids, friends, neighbors or teachers to this fun St. Patrick’s Day Treat Bucket.

We have always loved surprising the kids with small treats on the holidays. Just like the Love Buckets for Valentine’s Day that I give them, these St. Patrick’s Day Lucky Buckets are fun and easy to put together.

St. Patrick’s Day is actually one of my favorite holidays, I’m not sure if it’s because it’s a low key holiday or maybe it’s all the fun St. Patrick’s Day treats and food that you can make. Last year I put together St. Patrick’s Day Treat Bags that are great to take for a classroom treat. Using that same concept, I hunted for items to put in the bucket that are green.

Here are the items I found, you can of course have a little scavenger hunt of your own and see what you can find.

St. Patrick’s Day Lucky Bucket Items

I found everything at my local Walmart

Bucket – found this in the seasonal Easter area

Glow Stick shaped like a Shamrock – St. Patrick’s Day display

Green Glasses that glow in the dark – St. Patrick’s Day display

Rubber Ring that flashes – St. Patrick’s Day display

Gold Beads – Party area

Play-Doh – Toys

Bubble Wand – Toys

Gold Curling Ribbon – wrapping paper area

I added the larger items first toward the back, then filled in with the smaller items in front. The gold beads were then added. I looked for curling ribbon, but didn’t find a roll of the gold, but I did find one already curled, which saved time (which is a good thing). I took the curling ribbon apart and put it into the each of the sides of the bucket.

The Lucky Bucket cost around $8 to put together. If you wanted to keep the cost down even more, you could add food items instead like the St. Patrick’s Day Treat Bags.

]]>
Today I have a delicious treat that is super easy to make and sure to be a hit for St. Patrick’s Day! Luck of Irish Party Mix is perfect for parties, to enjoy at home or even give as gifts! With Green Caramel Corn, Chocolate Chex Cereal, Pretzels, Candy and more…you can’t go wrong!

The nice thing about this Luck of the Irish Party Mix is you can add whatever you have on hand. I literally opened the cupboards and searched through my candy drawer to find ingredients to add.

I started by making a batch of Homemade Caramel Corn and added green coloring to the coating. Then Chex Cereal was mixed with melted white chocolate and a good sprinkle of green sugar. While those cooled, I chopped the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Andes Mints.

All the ingredients were tossed in a large bowl, then green M&M’s and green candy sprinkles were added. Now you can certainly drizzle over a bit more melted chocolate to hold all the ingredients together like I did in my Christmas Candy Crunch and Candy Corn Mix, but this time I decided to keep it a bit more simple since there was already plenty of chocolate.

And since you all know how I LOVE the holidays and creating fun and simple gifts to give, how about adding the Luck of the Irish Party Mix to a bag and adding a little tag?

We hope you like the new look and features as much as we do. Now we would love to learn more about you and how we can help you by sharing simple, easy , creative recipes and projects! Please help us by filling out this short survey. Thank you so much!

If you are having trouble seeing the survey, you can view it here > Survey

]]>
Learn how to make these adorable Paper Shamrocks. They are a fun St. Patrick’s Day Craft that the kids can help with too. Just a few simple supplies is all you need.

These Paper Shamrocks are easy enough for the kiddos to help with too! While they are similar to the Valentine’s Day Paper Hearts, they are also different, so I have put together a lot of step-by-step photos and instructions for you!, let me show you how to make Paper Shamrocks!

Note – I do realize that shamrocks are traditionally 3 heart shapes and these are 4 leaf clovers. We did try to make them with only 3 hearts, and they weren’t balanced enough to hang. You can certainly make them with just 3 using the same steps below. Either way I think they are adorable and make a fun, easy St. Patrick’s Day Craft to brighten your home or office.

Let’s gather our supplies…

How to make Paper Shamrocks

Supplies

Scrapbook Paper – 12 x 12 inch works best

Paper cutter

Scissors

Adhesive – either glue dots or tape runner or both

Twine or ribbon to hang the shamrocks

Step 1

For each Shamrock you will need…

4 strips of paper – 1 inch wide by 12 inches long

4 strips of paper – 1 inch wide by 10 inches long

Stem – 1 strip of paper – 1 inch wide by 12 inches long

Step 2

Fold the 12 inch pieces in half, wrong sides together

Fold the 10 inch pieces in half, right sides together

Step 3

Start with the 12 inch strips and glue the ends together, right sides together to form a heart shape

Step 4

Now take the 10 inch strip of paper and glue one end to the inside of the larger heart, wrong sides together

Step 5

Now glue the other side, wrong sides together

Step 6

Secure the 2 hearts together at the bottom point with a glue dot

Step 7

For the stem, fold a 12 inch strip of paper in half and secure with glue

Using a pencil, slightly curl the stem, if desired

Step 8

Now it’s time to assemble all the pieces.

First, cut a piece of twine and attach it between 2 of the hearts with a glue dot and then attach the 2 hearts together

Then for the bottom, attach the stem with a glue dot and then attach the 2 hearts together

Step 9

Attach the 2 sets together with glue and hang

Fun and easy…wouldn’t you say? You may also like the 3D Paper Shamrocks…

]]>
We are kicking off our St. Patrick’s Day fun with these easy Ombre Cupcakes in a Jar! Ombre…graduated colors…are all the rage now! I think they look simply beautiful in a layered cake, but we are keeping it easy today and stacking the green cupcake layers in a small jar with Marshmallow Frosting. Then topping them off with a few sprinkles, wrapping with green twine and a fun FREE St. Patrick’s Day printable!

Happy Cupcake Tuesday! I’m so excited you are here! Looking for a cupcake recipe? Be sure to check out the Cupcake Heaven page, there are over 250 cupcake recipes and decorating ideas!

Serve these at a party, as a special treat for the kiddos or add a lid and give them as a gift, whatever you decide…they are sure to be a hit!

Divide into 3 separate bowls, mine was a little more than 1 cup in each bowl

Color each of the cake batters a different shade of Kelly Green {or your favorite color}

Spread each color evenly in an 8x8 baking pan

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

Cool completely

Use the jar as a cookie cutter, and cut circles of cake

Layer in jar alternating with frosting

Add sprinkles for color

Tie with twine, add a spoon and a printable {optional}

Notes

Total time includes layering the jars and decorating them.
You could use these same method with any color, especially for a birthday party.
The size of the jar will depend on how many you get out of this recipe. I got 6 jars.

]]>
Hands down the best Banana Bread Recipe I have ever made. Moist and full of flavor, this is a classic recipe that you must try!

In my home, bananas never go to waste. We prefer to eat them when they are bright yellow with a little bit of green and barely any brown as a snack or with some natural peanut butter. But when they start to go brown, they get diced up into cereal, especially oatmeal. If they go really brown, well that means it is time to bake some banana bread!

February is Heart Health month and I’m always trying to find ways to keep my heart as healthy as possible. I exercise often, keep an eye on my salt intake and eat a balanced diet full of heart healthy foods.

One great ingredient that is sure to help my heart are nuts. Fisher Nuts have nine types of nuts that have been certified by the American Heart Association as heart healthy; pecan halves, chips and chopped, walnuts halves, pieces, chips and chopped, whole natural almonds, sliced and slivered almonds.

Including walnuts in our Banana Bread was just the perfect way to help keep our hearts healthy while enjoying a delicious treat.

This Banana Bread is great for breakfast with a cup of coffee or as dessert, if you can keep it around the house long enough. It always seems to disappear quickly around here.

Banana Bread freezes great, so anytime you have extra bananas that are going bad, whip up a batch or two of this Banana Bread with heart healthy walnuts and freeze a batch for later.